Like a Fairytale – Natural and Artificial Light Photography

Sveta Butko
Track: Lighting & Camera Skills 

At a Glance

• Learn how to craft emotionally resonant portraits using light, color, wardrobe, and setting – not just for beauty, but for storytelling.
• Develop a stronger eye for composition – layering framing, props, and background with intention to elevate the story inside the image.
• Experience hands-on editing sessions that teach how to preserve mood and enhance tone using subtle, thoughtful retouching techniques.
• Build a small collection of soulful, portfolio-worthy portraits created during guided shooting sessions – with styling, direction, and support.

Class Description

Step into a space where photography becomes more than a technical act — where portraits breathe emotion, color sets the tone, and each frame tells a quiet story. This class is a journey into visual storytelling through portraiture.

Together, we’ll explore the poetic side of photography – how to craft atmosphere, evoke feeling, and use subtle tools like light, composition, wardrobe, color, and posing to create images that resonate.

We’ll draw inspiration from art history and cinematic language, but always with an eye toward how it connects to your own voice as a photographer. Rather than lectures, our time will be filled with active creation.

You’ll shoot daily, guided by gentle prompts, intentional styling, and thoughtful use of props and space. We’ll explore authentic expression and human connection in a portrait. Through live shooting and collaborative editing, you’ll learn how to enhance what you see – not just technically, but emotionally.

We’ll walk through edits that preserve mood and deepen impact, with attention to tone, texture, and subtle color choices.

This is a class for visual learners, for those who feel more than they explain, who understand instinctively, and who create best through doing. If you’re drawn to beauty, nuance, and quiet impact – you’ll find your rhythm here.

This class is ideal for photographers of any level who are drawn to expressive portraiture and wish to deepen their visual language. Whether you’re building a business, expanding a portfolio, or reconnecting with your artistic voice, this experience will help you see and shoot with more intention.

You’ll leave with not only new images, but also a renewed confidence in your ability to tell stories through light, color, and human presence.

Please bring your camera (any model you’re comfortable with), a laptop with editing software, and your curiosity. A willingness to observe, experiment, and explore will serve you more than any gear.

We’ll create together — thoughtfully and intuitively — in a space where your style is invited to evolve.

• CLASS INTENSITY: Blue
• CLASS BREAKDOWN
  Classroom instruction & demos: 40%
  Hands-on: 40%
  Post-production: 20%
• PREREQUISITES:
  Lighting 1: All Levels
  Post-Production 3: Can work with layers, layer masks & understand blend modes.
  Post-Production 4: Digital Art & Composite experience. Experience in blending image with brushes.

What do these mean? Learn More